For first time in 11 years, 3 top Cascade passes closed

Snow removal already $4.6 million over budget

By LARRY LANGE, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Friday, February 8, 2008

Washington's three major mountain highways all closed Friday because of foul weather and avalanche danger, the first time Snoqualmie, Stevens and White passes have been closed simultaneously in 11 years.

Officials began to worry that their two-year snow-and-ice removal budgets might run over because of the unusually nasty weather in the passes.

White Pass closed all day. Stevens Pass closed at 10 a.m. Snoqualmie Pass was shut at midday between North Bend and Ellensburg. Snoqualmie and Stevens were not expected to reopen before Saturday. There was no estimate of when White Pass would be passable again.

Just clearing the snow promised to be a challenge: Previously plowed snow created drifts as high as 25 feet to the side of the road. All three highways received nearly 10 inches of new snow Friday and snow was falling 2 inches per hour at one point.

Because of heavy snow and high winds "there's basically little or no visibility" at White Pass, said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Annie Linstrom.

At Snoqualmie, this season's snowfall exceeded 390 inches Thursday. It wasn't a record, but it was approaching the highest recent levels -- 435 inches that fell during the 1971-72 season and 427 inches in 1973-74. Seasonal snowfall totaled 440 inches at Stevens Pass as of Friday and 509 inches at White Pass; no comparable historic figures were available.

Truckers had to endure more costly delays. Friday's closures left only state Route 14 and Interstate 84 in Oregon as the major routes through the Cascades. Truckers still made cross-state deliveries, but some were late because of the long detour.

Bart Lutton, terminal manager for Peninsula Truck Lines, said the shutdowns were adding about 4,400 more miles daily to his company's routes, at a cost of several thousand dollars. Some drivers were approaching their mandatory driving-hours limits.

"In my 15 years in Washington this is the worst I've ever seen," Lutton said.

The last time all three major passes were closed was Dec. 29, 1996, when Snoqualmie Pass was closed for more than three days. That closure shut Stevens Pass for 66 hours and White Pass for 71 hours.

A winter storm warning remained in effect overnight in the Cascades, with accumulations of up to 16 inches of snow expected.

The snowstorms of the past two weeks have taxed resources and snow-removal budgets. Managers of Transportation Department crews clearing Snoqualmie and Stevens said they're spending more money on snow and ice removal than they expected to at this point in the year.

At Snoqualmie, the state has spent $1.9 million of its $6.1 million two-year snow-removal budget through January. But with two-dozen more people on the crew than normal, it has been spending up to $75,000 a day on the work, three times the normal amount, said regional administrator Don Whitehouse.

"We're on target to overspend, just like the snowfall's on target to be one of the top snowfall years," Whitehouse said. Similarly, Stevens Pass crews had spent $125,000 more at this point in the year than they expected, said department spokesman Jeff Adamson.

Part of the Stevens Pass cleanup included a slide 10 miles east of the summit in an area where none had occurred for about three decades.

Statewide, the department estimated its snow-and-ice spending is about $4.6 million more than what was planned to be spent at this point -- $26.3 million compared with the planned $21.7 million. About $2.6 million is in unplanned labor costs, such as those for on-call equipment operators and another $2 million for additional materials such as de-icer and salt.

"If the current pattern holds, it is very possible that the snow and ice program could be as much as $8 million over budget by the end of winter," according to a department memo circulated Friday.

The state plans some improvements to better deal with Snoqualmie Pass snow between Hyak and Keechelus Lake. A $525 million package includes more snow-deposit space, a longer vehicle chain-up area and construction of a 1,200-foot-long snow shed covering all Interstate 90 lanes that would replace a two-lane, 400-foot-long structure. Shed construction is set to start in 2010; its cost is estimated between $85 million and $93 million, adjusted for inflation.